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Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Make like a model: Recreate the holiday brochure!

We
wake up on the first day of our February half-term static caravan holiday in
Wales with wind and rain pummelling the windows. And one of us has a revolting virus.

As
we droop our heads into our bowls of Weetabix and wonder
what the best rainy-day plan is, we flick through the Hoseasons brochure on the table with images of the happy, smiley, tango-tanned holiday we're meant to be
having.

"The pictures are so cheesy," says my daughter.

"Yeah, we're
obviously not doing our holiday right," says my sister.

"Hey!"
I say. "Let's BE THEM. Come on..."

And suddenly there's a burst of happy activity and giggling.
We've come up with a new 'thing'. We decide to call it Re-Bro: Re-creating
the brochure. The kids are studying the exact poses and expressions of the
children ("You need to bend your wrist more.") and the adults are hunting for the toast rack and discussing who should play mummy and daddy ("Well, who's the most orange?"). This is fun and funny. Enough to make us want to go out immediately so we can recreate some of the other pictures.

Here are the results.

Exhibit #1: Fully enjoying the caravan comforts (turns out there isn't a bloody toast
rack. Or a jug. Shame on you, Hoseasons).

Exhibit #2: Having a relaxing drink at the clubhouse (only we weren't prepared to go as far as actually spending money on drinks!).

Exhibit #3: We like it so much here, we decide to actually buy our own caravan. This is the happy moment
where we're handed the keys.

Oh
yes, we're living the dream.

Footnote:
A friend of mine saw these photos and said that she knows the original models in the brochure - in fact, they live down the road from me! Coincidence or what?!

Hello!

I'm Claire Potter, author of the Little Blighters books for parents and freelance writer for The Guardian. I am always on the look out for mini-adventures and (good) mischief I can get up to with my children. The quirkier, the better! I hope you find inspiration here for refreshingly different days out, and in, or just ideas to add a bit of quirkle to everyday life with your children.

Take a peek at my books ...

and ...

"When you grow up and have children of your own, do please remember something important: A stodgy parent is no fun at all. What a child wants and deserves is a parent who is SPARKY." &nbsp (Roald Dahl)